House Bill 11, passed during the 2015 legislative session, is a sweeping law pitched as part of a broader $800 million border security effort. It expands the border presence of the Texas National Guard, green-lights hiring more troopers, and mandates an intelligence center to analyze crime data at the border.

One of the law’s other provisions has recently drawn a lawsuit that's just now making headlines. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, better known as MALDEF, has filed suit against Texas over what's called the “immigrant harboring” provision. They argue that it's unconstitutional under federal law.

Immigrant Detention Centers in Texas are starting to release some mothers and their children. That's because Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson made some changes earlier this week to the way mothers and children are detained. KUT's Joy Diaz reports immigrant advocates are calling the changes a victory – though – a partial one.

To work in the United States immigrants who are here illegally often use false social security numbers or ones that belong to other people. Then many file their income tax returns using a special number provided by the IRS. Joey Palacios of Texas Public Radio in San Antonio reports on why an immigrant fearing deportation still wants to pay taxes. And why the IRS doesn’t report their illegal status to homeland security.

The term “sanctuary city” took root in 2010 when the State of Arizona passed a law prohibiting local police departments from having policies that said officers would not check a person’s immigration status. Cities with those policies were accused of giving sanction to residents in the country illegally.

Governor Rick Perry is sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border to aid in the surge of immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico. Perry has accused the White House of not doing enough to solve the problem.

"I will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children from Central America are detained in squalor," Perry said.